FRAGRANCE AND SOCIETY: SEX S(M)ELLS

Why do certain scents make us feel sexy or powerful? How has the perfume industry turned those desires for attention and intimacy into big business? Fragrance has long been marketed as a weapon of seduction. To gain a deeper understanding of how scent operates as both an intimate sensory experience and a powerful material object, we will smell a wide range of past and current perfumes described as being “sexy.” 

From high-end perfumes to drugstore body sprays, we will use these fragrances as examples of how brands use cultural narratives about social and economic status and racial and gender stereotypes to reinforce connections between eroticism and aspiration for profit. We will also smell and discuss some examples from niche brands like État-Libre d’Orange, that confront, subvert, and reframe “sexy smells” to create commentaries on the body that are unexpected and unsettling.

Instructor: Daisy Bow, PhD

Host or Publisher FRAGRANCE ALLIANCE NETWORK